Get to know secure web gateway vs proxy in this blog post. Also, get to know how you can benefit from these two.
Secure Web Gateway vs Proxy
To begin, a secure web gateway or SWG refers to a type of firewall that is capable of managing all types of traffic, including IP, email, and HTTP traffic. A proxy server, on the other hand, is a specialized computer that receives and forwards requests from clients to other servers.
The main difference between the two is that while an SWG refers to a firewall, a proxy server refers to an application that establishes a connection between your network and the Internet.
When data passes through an SWG, it’s secured and inspected for signs of malware or intrusion attempts. When data passes through a proxy server, it’s not inspected and secured as SWG does it.
In terms of functionality, SWG is beneficial for organizations that need to handle high volumes of web traffic. Because it combines security with performance. A proxy server is more beneficial for small businesses. It can even help home users who need to access remote resources on the Internet.
To some extent, SWG can be compared with a reverse proxy server because they both do similar things. They allow you to access your corporate resources from external locations. All while keeping them secured at the same time.
However, there are differences between these two devices as well as differences in their functions. For example, while reverse proxies can be used in different ways such as load balancing or content caching among others, SWGs are mainly used for securing network traffic on your organization’s internal network. It can also be used to inspect and block unauthorized connections such as FTP, SSH, IRC, and VoIP.
The Benefits of Using Secure Web Gateway and Proxy
Even though SWGs and proxies have differences, they both offer great benefits to companies using them. What are some of these? Firstly, when both are used together, they are very useful in improving the overall performance of your network. This is especially true when you want to access resources that are on the Internet or shared applications hosted on the Internet.
For instance, if you have an internal network and you want to access resources on the Internet, you can use proxies and SWGs. This way, you’ll be able to improve your performance because traffic will be reduced in your internal network. You won’t have to worry about bandwidth consumption as well.
More so, if you have users who need to access their web-based applications hosted on the Internet such as business software, ERP, or time tracking software, then you can use proxies and SWGs. This way, you’ll only have to manage those applications from a single location which is the proxy server or SWG.
Conclusion
Really, there are many benefits of using secure web gateways and proxies. So, they play a very important role when it comes to securing corporate networks while allowing employees to access content on the Internet at the same time.